Always and Forever
by TheWhiteW0lf
Summary: Set during the episode Kapiushon, Oliver hallucinates about the love of his life, and what could have been.


Oliver stood up in the small makeshift prison cell that Chase and Talia had constructed somewhere in the bowels of the city. Most likely The Glades. Oliver sighed, rolling his eyes. Why did it always have to be The Glades?

Roy grew up there. Sara had spent time there defending it when she was on the run. Even Rebecca Merlyn had spent a fortune trying to help the people living in The Glades. And Laurel… She had defended people from all walks of life, including those less fortunate enough to live there, and Malcolm and Darhk had ripped that away.

It felt like Chase had poured salt into the gaping wound beneath his chest. Oliver had long thought that he had given up any hope to be with Laurel. That this love that he harbored just for her had slowly been extinguished over the years…. And yet, between her death, The Dreamworld, and Black Siren he realized that that sort of love never fades.

When Laurel took her last breath, she had taken a piece of him with her.

Soft footsteps forced Oliver out of his thoughts and back to his captors. He looked up to see his former mentor and Chase. The latter standing there looking rather smug, his hands resting on his hips.

"I do not ever recall teaching you to escape shackles, Oliver." His mentor said, slowly as she took calculated steps towards him.

Oliver looked up, ignoring Chase's looks. "For all your father's faults. He was an honorable man." Talia's jaw tightened. "You have aligned yourself with a psychopath, Talia. Ra's would be ashamed of you."

He didn't know what he expected, perhaps he had hoped for Talia to remember that despite her new allegiances, and dubious morality. She, like her sister, were still good people. But she didn't, if anything she seemed slightly amused.

"I shall take your word for it, Oliver. You seem to be rather an expert at being the source of shame for your father. How many times has Star City been endangered because you became the so-called guardian of Star City?" Talia then turned back, to walk out of the cell. "Ensure that he suffers." She said to her accomplice as she left.

Chase looked at him, standing to his full height, puffing out his chest. "That was always the plan. Always."

Oliver didn't remove his eyes from his captor. He would show no quarter. "My friends will find me."

"It's sweet that you think they are the source of your resolve. But it seems that you continually forget or dismiss what I have been trying to tell you, Oliver. I am not interested in killing you."

"Then help me understand, Adrian. What are you playing at?"

Chase smirked, pacing backwards and forwards. He looked like he was trying to contain his giddiness or amusement. He explained that he was going to help Oliver understand who he really was. He then slowly paced backwards, leaving the cell, and closing the cell door.

* * *

Oliver felt Chase keeping his head below the freezing water in the trough. For the first few seconds, his face burned, then it slowly became numb, then the things started to go hazy before it finally became dark.

* * *

Oliver looked around to see himself no longer in the cell with Chase. No longer was he being tortured. Instead, he looked around to see the inside of his family's mansion. Everyone looked the same as when he was in the Dreamworld.

He felt a warm gentle grip on his shoulder. He turned his head to see his father, "Son, I think it's time to dance with my beautiful daughter-in-law."

Oliver followed his father's gaze to see Laurel still dressed in her beautiful white wedding gown that she had worn in his dreamworld. He felt his mouth become dry, as he walked towards her. Oliver held her hand and gave Laurel a gentle tug towards the dance floor.

"Ollie?" she asked, with a small smile tugging at her lips.

"I love you, Pretty Bird," he whispered, as he brought her closer and started to dance slowly. Her warmth and her sweet-smelling perfume were small reminders that she was his home. She had saved him so many times on the island.

She brought her forehead up to his. "I love you too, Ollie. This is perfect."

He couldn't help but snort softly. "Even though my mother wanted this ostentatious wedding? I thought you would have preferred a small private wedding?"

"It's perfect because you are here." She whispered almost conspiratorially before he opened his arm to let her spin. "You're the love of my life, Ollie."

"And you are mine, Pretty Bird," he whispered, as he pressed a tender kiss to her cheek.

* * *

The first thing he smelt was ammonia. He coughed. Looking up he saw Chase holding smelling salts to his nose. Oliver looked around to see Laurel was no longer there. Oliver bit his lip and swallowed down the emptiness and the reminder that she was no longer with him.

"Welcome back," Chase said dryly, as he moved towards a towel to wipe his hands. "That was one-hundred and forty-five seconds. Not a nice feeling was it? "Chase asked, "It is how long my father struggled beneath the water." Chase continued to talk about his father's death, how Oliver had shot the arrow, yet didn't kill him, instead, Morrison had drowned.

To Oliver, it seemed like bliss. He would be with Laurel. Perhaps, Thea had it right a few months ago? Why did he want to leave what was for all intents and purposes, Heaven? Mom was alive, so was Dad, Tommy… and most importantly Laurel.

Chase stopped to look at Oliver as if he was expecting him to say something. Oliver nodded slightly, feeling the cold-water drip down his skin, creating goosebumps. "And… Here I thought you had a big plan that involved more than torture?"

Chase knelt down in front of him, avoiding the nearby water and the puddles. "Have you ever stopped to realize why I called myself Prometheus?" Without letting Oliver answer. Ancient Greece was not one of his failed subjects at college. "Prometheus challenged the absolute power of the gods. You, like the gods who reigned from Mount Olympus, loved to play judge, jury, and executioner. But you see, Oliver, Prometheus took away that power."

"If that is your plan." He drawled, before gesturing towards the trough of water. "You have to do a lot better than that."

Chase grinned. "Oh, I did, Oliver. I did just that." He then rose to his feet, towering above Oliver. "The only way you can stop all of this is to confess."

"That I killed your father?" Oliver asked.

"Nothing that pedestrian. I want you to confess your secret to me, Oliver. The secret that even you have been afraid to admit to yourself. Let alone to your friends or family."

Oliver gritted his teeth. "How many times do I have to tell you, I have no idea what you are talking about!" He snarled at his captor.

"Fair enough. You will come around eventually." Chase then swiftly moved behind Oliver, grabbing him by the scalp and throwing his head back beneath the cold water.

"_I know who you are in your bones, Oliver. And that person, that person never gives up!"_ Laurel's voice echoed in Oliver's ears as he struggled to maintain his consciousness.

* * *

The sound of Chase pacing around the perimeter of the cell, brought him back. Oliver blinked several times to see Chase looking at the various men and women that he had killed while he was The Hood. "These are your victims, Oliver."

"Criminals." Oliver panted. "People who did terrible things, they had victims."

"And husbands, wives, and Children," Adrian added before looking down at Oliver. "If you just confess, all this will be over. Hell, I will even let you walk out that door, and return home, to Thea, Felicity, and John"

But not Laurel. Oliver wanted to add. His home had died the night Darhk thrust the arrow through Laurel's chest.

"You are sick and are a hypocrite! I have done nothing that compares to the likes that you have committed." Oliver's voice sounded too hoarse, "You murdered your own wife."

"How about this man?" Adrian asked he dropped a photograph of a man with a shaved head and dark skin. "Mr. Blank. You shoved a fire poker through him."

"He was going to kill my friends… And the little boy that…"

"That Laurel Lance was protecting. I know." He then moved over to grab the poker. "Confess, or you receive the poker through your chest."

Oliver tried his best to get to his full height, despite his shackles. He would never apologize for saving Tommy and Taylor's life. And certainly not Laurel's. If anything, he owed Laurel an apology for not saving her. "Go to hell."

"Been there, Oliver. And I was sent back with a message for you." He then pulled back with the steel bar before thrusting it into Oliver's chest, just below the shoulders.

Oliver gasped out in pain, only to feel the world darkens around him once more.

* * *

Oliver woke up to look across the small park that overlooked Orchid Bay. He looked beside him to see Laurel lying beside him in a beautiful sundress. "Hey, Sleepyhead." She said softly, as she brushed her fingers slowly through his hair.

"When did we get here?" He asked her.

Laurel's brow slightly furrowed, "We promised the twins that we would take a day off of being the Mayor and District Attorney to spend the day with our family."

"The twins?" He asked, his heart stilled for a second.

Laurel pointed off to where three kids were playing with a dalmatian. The twins looked like they couldn't be older than five years old, and the other looked like… William. His three children were playing together with the family dog.

"How long is William here for?"

"For the week, Samantha said something about work." She then followed his gaze back to their children. The girl looked like a mixture between Laurel and Speedy when his sister was that age, though with blonde hair. While the boy looked like him when he was younger, his eyes though were green.

Laurel sat up, calling the kids over. "William, it's time for lunch, can you bring Connor and Liv over?"

He watched as his three kids ran towards him, "Daddy!" Connor screeched as he bolted towards him, soon followed by Liv, then William.

"Enjoy your rest, Dad?" William asked, looking at him before he pulled out a drumstick from a tupperware dish.

"Not as much as I enjoy spending time with my family." He said with a smile, mussing up Connor's hair, patting William's arm, and kissing his daughter's crown, as she sat on his lap.

Laurel turned to him, "Speedy said that after she has dealt with one of the councilmen, she and Dad will meet us here. You and he promised to teach them how to fish, remember?"

* * *

Oliver woke up to see Chase kneeling over him with the bloody poker in his hand. It took a few seconds before the white-hot burning sensation filled his upper chest and arm. But it was nothing to the feeling of leaving his idyllic dream.

A continuation of what could have been from his dreamworld. Laurel had taken William in as one of her own. She loved William just as much as their babies, Connor and Olivia. If he had given Laurel more trust, more training, a better protective suit, she may have lived.

If he hadn't been so stupid and kept her at arm's length, if not more, would they have been a family by now? Barry and Iris had managed to get together despite Barry's reluctance.

Laurel was also a hero in her own right. There should have been less of a chance for her to get hurt, as there is with Iris. But it was the story of his life that nothing went to plan, and nothing ever seemed to want to go his way.

Oliver panted. "What's next?"

"Do you remember what you told me when you were brought here? About your friends and family being your rock?"

Chase then pulled out the hozen that Oliver had once given Thea. He held it in front of Oliver, dangling it as if Oliver were some sort of animal ready to do a trick. "Poor, Speedy didn't even know I was in her apartment."

He had gotten into his sister's home. Oliver's jaw tightened, Speedy, Quentin, and William were the last of his family. If he hurt any of them. "I swear to God. If you hurt my sister…"

"You will do absolutely nothing." Chase cut him off. "Because you are here, powerless. Impotent. You can't do anything from here. And until you confess, Oliver, everyone you love is at stake." He then pulled out a photograph of William. "Even your sweet boy, William."

Oliver's eyes started to sting. Did Does Chase know about his dreams? "You're bluffing." He rasped out. "He's in hiding… I — I don't even know where he is."

"Open your eyes and look." Chase muttered, "You haven't looked. For me, we both know that it is just a matter of when, and not if I find him. Confess, and I won't have to hurt him."

Oliver felt his throat bob. He would say anything to Chase to keep him from harming his son. From harming Speedy, Quintin, or the rest of his team. "I don't know what you want me to say…."

"Well…" Chase muttered, almost snidely. "I suppose that I shall leave you here to think about it and wonder just who may be killed while I'm gone."

His chest hurt; his heart hurt. His arm was still on fire. He couldn't let Adrian hurt his family. His mother had shown him great courage when she took the blade instead of Thea. "Adrian! Adrian, please." He begged.

Chase halted, but his voice was still dripping with amusement and condescension. "All you have to do is say the words." Oliver could only stammer, wondering what words he wanted to hear. "That's what I thought," Chase mumbled before he closed the door behind him. "See you soon, Ollie."

* * *

After a few hours, of being alone, thinking about his mistakes, the door opened to reveal Chase dragging in Evelyne. She had nasty purple bruises along her jaw and whimpered every time the man laid a finger on her.

"What did you do to her?"

Chase moved towards him. "Made her a little more, compliant." The psychopath then sent a heavy punch to Oliver's sternum, ripping the air out of his lungs. Oliver keeled over, coughing and spluttering. "Get up and give yourself a chance."

Adrian then sauntered away from Oliver and dropped a green arrow between the girl and Oliver.

"I… I will not fight her."

"That's just fine, man. I don't need you to fight her, just to kill her." He then smirked, looking from the arrow back to Oliver. "I'm going to leave now, and when I return one of you will be killed and I will let the survivor go unmolested."

Oliver shook his head. He had brought Evelyne into the fold, in part, because that is what Laurel would have done. Taken the girl under her wing. Just as she had done for Taylor and Speedy. He felt that a small part of Laurel's legacy would live on if he followed her lead.

"No. Neither one of those things will happen, Adrian."

Chase looked at him with disappointment. "If you don't kill her. I will grab that arrow and thrust it into her chest."

"What is the point of this!?" Oliver yelled in frustration.

"You seemed to have some issues in figuring that out. I thought that she may help you with that."

Oliver panted heavily, looking from Evelyne to Chase as he walked out the door, hearing the electric lock buzz. He looked up to see Evelyne no longer in her civilian clothes, but back in Laurel's suit.

"I'm so sorry, Oliver."

Oliver closed his eyes, begging anything or anyone to clear his head.

"I can't take another day down here." The girl sobbed before bending down to pick up the arrow.

Perhaps it was a mistake bringing in such a young person into the fold?

Oliver looked up to see the broken girl. "Evelyne... Please. I need you to hand me the arrow and help me out of these." He said gesturing to his bound wrists. When he comes back…" He exhaled, wearily. "We will ambush him. I will protect you."

His former protégé sobbed as she gently held the arrow in her hands. "I Didn't know, Oliver. I didn't know what he was like when I sided with him."

Oliver exhaled audibly; he had forgiven her once for tainting Laurel's legacy. The legacy of the woman he loves. She had ruined her legacy so much that Oliver had to divulge his love's secret to the world. That she was The Black Canary.

All because Laurel had always shown him compassion and forgiveness. "It's Okay, Evelyne. I forgive you. I — uh… We can get through this. We are a team. Family."

The young woman shook her head. "I'm dead, Oliver. It's what Chase and the other woman kept telling me when—" She looked to her boots. "He said I am dead because I was a part of your life. Just as your father, Yao Fei, Tommy your mother and…"

"Laurel…" He had almost saved her life. Constantine's tattoo harnessed the light to fight Darhk. Laurel had inspired the light within him. As she always did. And like everything he did with Laurel, he abused her gift. He gave Darhk the weapon to kill her. His own arrow.

Oliver squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself to try to forget how Laurel had bled out in his arms, how he never got the chance to tell her that he still loved her, just as much as she loved him. That her love was not unrequited.

"Evelyne, please, would you bring me the knife? He asked as kindly as he could. He repeated the question again and added; "And I can save us." He tried to plaster his most reassuring smile to try to comfort the young woman, to show her that he had a plan, that they would be safe. Even if he didn't believe it himself.

Evelyne cried as she tried to run him through with the missile in her hand. "No."

Oliver quickly twisted her wrists, sending the arrow across the room, before shoving her in the opposite direction, watching her sprawl across the ground in shuddered sobs.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Oliver repeated. Before the door opened, he heard Chase bellowing at him in disappointment, for not killing the girl that was a few years younger than his own sister. "Oliver! What are you trying to prove, man?" He asked as he closed the cell door behind him. "She betrayed you. Dragged your ex-girlfriend's name through the mud. You have killed people for less."

Oliver sighed, wishing to be back with Laurel and his family overlooking the bay, watching his three kids play together, giggling as the dog followed them around as their ever-vigilant protector and friend. Oliver desperately wanted to go back and teach his two sons and his princess how to fish with Quintin.

"I won't kill her. I won't. Do whatever you want with me." Kill him, torture him, mutilate him, it didn't matter. "Just let her go."

Adrian dragged the girl by the scalp without care, to her feet, ignoring her sobs and pleading for him to stop. He then wrapped his arm around her neck. "I told you what would happen if you didn't kill her."

Oliver tried to move forward, only to have his chains prevent him. "Adrian, please… Please listen to me, Ok?" He begged his captor. "You have made your point."

Chase didn't relent. "Confess your secret to me."

"I don't know what you want from me!" Oliver bellowed at Chase. He was getting frustrated. Was this about letting Laurel die? About how he had let all his friends and family down? That he has failed his city?

Chase looked at him eerily, calm despite having his arm wrapped around Evelyn's small neck. "I want you to confess to me what you have been afraid to tell your sister, Quintin, Felicity and Diggle. Tell me!"

Oliver shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I don't know." He muttered weakly. "I don't… Please." He begged.

The fire returned behind Chase's eyes. "Wrong answer." He then brutally snapped the girl's neck, without care or remorse, before chucking her body to the wayside carelessly, as if she were a slab of meat.

Oliver felt his stomach lurch. His knees gave out from beneath him, sending him hard to the cold cement floor.

He had failed Evelyne. Just as he had betrayed everyone in his life at one point. He was spreading the disease to everyone he cared about until they dropped.

He looked back up at the sadist "I am going to kill you." He promised, he was going to make Chase rue the day that he had decided to pick up this crusade against him, and killing his friends. Threatening his family.

"Ahhh." Chased looked at with calm determination. "I have gotten through that thick skull of yours. Confess." He prodded.

* * *

Chase paced around him, mainly keeping to his blind spot until he moved back to the photographs in front of him. "Your crusade, your hood, the bow, the arrows, the lies—All the excuses." His captor informed him, with brutal sincerity. "The idea that this is a heroic crusade is just an excuse."

Oliver felt his muscles tense. "Excuse for what!? Huh?" He was getting sick of being asked a question that he didn't know the answer to. Was he meant to? Chase certainly thought so.

"You tell me, Oliver." He chuckled. "I think you forget; I know you better than everyone else. I know what is going through your mind, Oliver." He taunted.

Maybe Chase knew him better than everyone, now that Laurel was gone. She had once told him that she knew him like her own name.

"You're thinking that you will get out of those chains, slam me to the ground, and snap my neck as I did to Evelyne over there," He said with a tilt of his head. Oliver jumped at Chase, snarling. He was done playing this game. "There he is," Chase goaded. "I have been waiting for that look. Confess, Oliver."

"You don't kill because you have to, so why?" Chase asked as if he were conducting an interrogation in the SCPD precinct. "So, why do you do it?"

"Because I wanted to." He said, only to see Laurel standing behind Chase looking disappointed in him, her arms cross. She looked like she was about to tell him something, but had decided to bite her tongue.

"What?" Chase asked.

"I wanted to…" He admitted, feeling as if it were the truth. But then why was Laurel's ghost looking at him with sadness and disappointment. "I wanted to! And I liked it!" He bellowed at Chase, who was nodding along with an almost proud look on his face.

* * *

Oliver was standing above the city next to Laurel. Both in their suits. She looked over her shoulder at him, her usually vibrant green eyes held so much sorrow in them. "Did you mean it, Ollie?"

"He knows me better than anyone else."

Laurel stood back from the ledge, gently cupping his jaw with her fishnet gloves. He leaned into her warm, gentle embrace. "Do you believe that? Do you really think that I would have been involved with someone like Ra's or Malcolm? Do you think Speedy would admire you if you were like that? What about Barry, my Dad, Sara, Felicity, Diggle, Ray, and your other teammates?"

"People see what they want to see. Just like you saw the best in me, and I killed you."

"Darhk did." She corrected, her thumb wiping a rogue tear from his cheek.

"I gave him the means. I was trained by killers, Laurel. It's ingrained. Slade, Yao Fei, Waller, Talia, Anatoly… I don't think there was any other way for me to turn out. Either I was the cheating bastard I was before the island, or I'm this monster there is no middle ground."

"I suppose that is one interpretation, Ollie. Not the one that I would agree with." She quietly assured him, "How many did you spare in your first year? What about Slade? I wish that you didn't always try to compare yourself to the likes of Ray, or Barry." She admitted.

"I don't…"

"You do, at least deep down." She said softly, "They never killed anyone. You wish you would be half as well received as them. But Ollie, just because you have different methods… methods that at times I disagree with. I know that you have your heart set on protecting the people you love, and the city that we grew up in. Does that sound like a monster to you?"

"I'm not the man you think I am, Laurel."

* * *

Oliver opened his eyes to see that he was still in his small prison cell. Chase was lounging against the wall, beneath all the photographs of the men that he had killed since he was active in Star City.

"You're finally awake." Oliver heard Chase say, "How does it feel knowing that I saw the one thing that you couldn't admit to yourself?"

Shit. He thought. Chase and Laurel were right. He differed from the likes of Ray, Barry, Laurel, and even Speedy. He was a remorseless killer.

"I knew he would break." Another voice echoed through the prison cell. Evelyne? She had somehow survived. Was it a ruse? He watched as the young woman rose to her feet, looking down at him with a smug expression. "Just like you said he would."

"That's because I know him better than anyone, including himself."

Oliver only could look up at the ceiling. Why didn't he let go, and just stay with Laurel and the kids? He could still remember Laurel dreaming about a white picket fence, kids, and a dog out in the suburbs. If only he had taken her offer, when he had the chance. He could have been more than a killer and lived a happy life with the woman that held his heart.

"Give us a moment," Chase said to Evelyne, a few seconds later, he heard her footsteps leave the small room. Chase rose to his feet, as Oliver tried in vain to return to his dream. He felt more at home there than he had in months... not since Darhk killed Laurel.

"You infect every life you touch. Do you realize why, now?" Chase asked him as if he were helping Oliver see himself for the first time in his life. "Your crusade was built upon a lie. You used your father's memory to justify a killing spree. You used your friends and family to justify your bloodlust."

Oliver thought of killing Deadshot, Malcolm, Ra's, Mr. Blank, Darhk, The Count, Cyrus Gold. He had justified killing them by using the guise of protecting his friends and family.

"There is a price to pay for that, Oliver. Your mother paid for it, Your friend Tommy, your lost love, Laurel. Do you really want to tell me that your sister, Roy Harper, Felicity Smoak, and John Diggle's lives are better since you have been a part of their lives?"

Oliver stifled a sob, looking up at the ceiling. "You… promised to let me go."

"And I am a man of my word." Chase stood up, grabbing something from behind him. "I have a gift for you though. You see being an American member of the Bratva must have meant that you killed people, felt pleasure in it. When you see that star, you must feel a sense of pride."

He then ignited the blow torch. Oliver could only smell the propane. "When you see it now, you will think about our time together, about your confession."

Oliver tried to prepare his body for the extreme heat of the torch. "Whatever pain I caused you… I'm truly sorry."

"I believe you, Oliver. But it won't save you, because I just don't care." He then flicked the torch on, burning the flesh over his chest. Oliver attempted to stifle his screams until he fell unconscious from holding his breath.

* * *

Laurel stood in front of him, just like she had before he had left her behind in the dreamworld. He hated standing there with her. He never wanted to say goodbye to her. It was part of the reason that he had left her that note after Tommy had died.

"This is the time to make your choice, Ollie. Stay with me and our family, or go back out and try to do what is right. "

He extended his arm to gently grasp hers, relishing the softness of her skin, the warmth. If he left, he would never get to feel her embrace again. Never see her smile. Hear her argue. See her fight. Be the big sister to Thea.

He swallowed, trying to bury the thoughts.

"You have to choose, Ollie."

"Please don't make me choose, Laurel." He begged her; in the background, he could hear his three kids giggling inside the mansion.

"Fine." She answered. "As much as I would love you to see our babies grow up, you need to keep the city safe. I'll keep our babies safe until you can come home."

His eyes stung, it was just like Laurel to put her wants aside and carry the proverbial cross to ensure that others were looked after. "And If I don't want that? What if I want to stay with you, with Will, Connie, and Liv?"

Laurel's voice hitched as she answered, "We will be here when you are ready. We aren't going anywhere." She placed her hand above his heart. "We are never that far away because we live here." She gestured to his heart. "Star City will always need the Green Arrow."

"I need you…" He said looking at her, feeling the sadness and isolation stirring in his stomach.

She gave him a sad smile. "You never needed me, Ollie. You just need to have faith in yourself, you are more heroic, strong, and compassionate than you give yourself credit for. You can't let me stand in the way of doing your duty. You need to protect Star City, our friends, and our family. Connor and Liv will be safe here" She assured him.

Oliver pulled her in for a searing kiss, wishing that this wasn't another hallucination, a trick, or a dreamworld, that this was the real flesh and blood girl, that he had grown up with and fell head over heels for. "Wait for me?" he pleaded with her after pulling back.

He watched as Laurel gave him a teary nod, "Always and Forever, Ollie."

"Always and Forever, Pretty Bird." He prepared her sentiment before walking away for the final time.

Laurel was right, he may have killed, but he wouldn't let Chase win. Because no matter how much he claimed to know Oliver so intimately, no one could rival Laurel, even when she was no longer with him, he was her rock, and would always be.


End file.
